Every now and then something happens that brightens even the darkest winter day, a true once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, if you happen to be a Shelby aficionado, and here it is (hold on to your seat):

You could be the owner of Carroll Shelby's own 1968 Shelby EXP500 CSS, the "Black Hornet."

We just found out that on December 2, 2008, bidding will begin on this dream car, a masterpiece of design in a screaming black 1968 Mustang notchback coupe body. Just think, this car has been coddled and polished in Carroll Shelby's own garage all these forty years, only taken out to incinerate the pavement on those rare occasions when things just got too quiet around the Shelby stable.

Automotive history speaks reverently of two famous Shelby EXP500 Hornet prototypes: the Lil' Red the GT500, which, alas, was crushed after a short experimental career on the proving ground, and the Green Hornet, which was found rusting in Michigan and restored in 1993. It's now valued in the millions of dollars. Nothing was known about Mr. Shelby's own Black Hornet, until now. And now, this one-of-a-kind black beauty is looking for a new home in your collection.

Most fans know Carroll Shelby was born into a rural family in Leesburg, Texas in 1923. During a stint as an USAF flight instructor, CS married his sweetheart, Jeanne. In 1945 he left the Air Force to become a chicken farmer, and in 1952 he drove his first hotrod flathead Ford V8 in a quarter mile drag race.

Over the next several years, despite a spectacular smashup in 1954, Carroll Shelby raced many European cars internationally. In 1960, after winning the USAC driving championship, he left driving due to a congenital heart condition, and in 1961 he struck up a deal to load a British AC chassis with the new American 221 cube small-block V8 from Ford, and a Borg-Warner four speed transmission. In 1962, the first Cobra was born. With the second, the CSX 2000 series, Shelby began stalking Corvettes.

In 1963 the skies opened for Shelby with Dan Gurney winning the Bridgehampton 500KM in a Cobra - the first American driver to win an FIA race in an American car. The Cobra dominated the Corvette and won the SCCA A-production national championship and the United States Road Racing Championship.

In 1964, the Cobra started eating Ferraris for lunch and the Ford Motor Company took notice. In 1965 the first Shelby Mustang GT350 racecars and streetcars were manufactured. Shelby automobiles continued to burn up racetracks in the USA and Europe.

Fast forward to 1990. Carroll Shelby, despite his nerves of steel, found he needed a new heart.

"While I was lying there in the hospital awaiting my heart, two boys on either side of me passed away because they did not receive a transplant in time. So I made a deal with the big man above." His transplant was successful and, after pacing the 1991 Indy in a Shelby-designed Dodge Viper, CS founded the Carroll Shelby Children's Foundation, with the mission to help families and medical professionals overcome life-threatening health issues that affect children worldwide. It specializes in funding pediatric heart and kidney transplants.

Over the years, hundreds of people and several corporations have donated generously to the Foundation. Carroll Shelby himself has auctioned several automobiles from his own collection for the benefit of his charity. In 2007, with Ford Motor Company, over a million dollars was raised on the sales of three cars. All sold in the six figures, and Carroll Shelby's own 1968 Shelby EXP500 CSS Black Hornet will no doubt leave them all in the dust.

Restoration Hardware has teamed up with eBay to conduct this global auction for the benefit of the Carroll Shelby Children's Foundation. Bidding begins 12/02/08 at $100,000. For details and to place your bid, visit eBay or Restoration Hardware.

Make your bid to help out some kids and a bit of history in this utterly unique 1968 Shelby EXP500 CSS Black Hornet. Corvettes, beware!